Tuesday, June 20, 2017

ROCHESTER -- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Frank Wilson, 56, of Rochester, pleaded guilty to assisting in the preparation of false tax returns before Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that Wilson operated a tax preparation business in Rochester that was affiliated with a tax return preparation business in Georgia. From February 2011 to April 2011, the defendant prepared at least 18 false tax returns claiming fraudulent total refunds of at least $90,508. Among other things, the false tax returns included inaccurate Schedule C income, in an attempt artificially to inflate the amount of the Earned Income Tax Credit claimed by Wilson’s clients.